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Dental Hygiene Fact Sheet

Registered Dental Hygienists are licensed important members of the dental care team who use their knowledge and clinical skills to provide direct patient care. Strong interpersonal skills are necessary to motivate and educate patients on methods to prevent oral disease and to maintain oral health. If you enjoy helping people, working with your hands as well as your mind, and are interested in improving oral health Dental Hygiene may be for you!

Job Description/Duties

• Generally work with dentists to create comprehensive care plan and work collaboratively to meet oral needs of patients
• Provide dental health and nutritional education for individuals and groups
• Perform oral cancer screening
• Examine periodontal (gum and bone) structure around and supporting teeth
• Expose and interpret radiographs
• Scaling and root planing
• Administer local anesthetic/ nitrous oxide sedation
• Administer topical fluoride treatments
• Place sealants

Employment Opportunities

• Full time and part time
• Private practice
• Public health/ consumer advocate
• Teaching/administration
• Research
• Legislative advocate
• Corporate representative
• General and specialty practices
• Hospitals
• Nursing homes
• Public health clinics
• Schools

Salary and Benefits

• Varies depending upon responsibilities and geographic location
• Benefit packages may be provided through employer and/or as a member of the American Dental Hygienists' Association

Lifestyle

• Very portable profession
• Prestige–highly skilled discipline
• Variety–work with diverse individuals/groups
• children, elderly, medically compromised, dental compromised
• Creativity–educating/motivating diverse cultures
• Flexibility–full/part time available in variety of settings–mix and match to fit your lifestyle and goals
• Security employment opportunities readily available year round

Career Development

• Life-long learning is an essential component for knowledge and required for re-licensure.
• Local and national opportunities for professional development
• Bachelor and Master online degree completion programs available
• Articulation agreements with some programs accept completed general education and DH courses

Education/Licensing Requirements

• A minimum 2- year education once accepted into program
• Program requires specific prerequisites for admission eligibility
• TMCC: (see DH brochure and TMCC College Catalogue for complete information)

Technical Standards

The prospective dental hygiene student must have the following capabilities:

• good hand/eye coordination and dexterity for instrumentation skills necessary for direct patient care
• a current Health Care Provider CPR card.
• be free from health conditions which put others at risk

Program Prerequisites

Must be completed prior to submitting an application

• Biology 223, Biology 224, Biology 251, Chemistry 121

Are also included as the science courses for the A.S. degree

General Education Courses

• DIVERSITY* (3credits)
• ENGLISH (6 credits)
  REQUIRED: ENG 101 & ENG 102
• FINE ARTS* (3 credits)
  ART 270 (recommended) (meets Diversity req't)
• HUMANITIES (3 credits)
  REQUIRED: PHIL 135
• MATHEMATICS (6 credits)
  REQUIRED: MATH 126 & MATH 127 (OR HIGHER MATH)
• SOCIAL SCIENCE (6 credits)
  REQUIRED: SOC 101
  REQUIRED: PSY 101
• US & NV CONSTITUTIONS* (3 credits)

* See TMCC Course Catalog for choices

All GE courses strongly recommended to be completed prior to submitting an application

Program Costs

Approximately $ 10,000 (subject to change)

Fees associated with national and state exams cannot be determined and are over and above the program costs.

Examination and Licensure

Examination and Licensure: All states require that dental hygienists be licensed. In addition to successfully graduating from an accredited dental hygiene program and passing the written Dental Hygiene National Board Examination, graduates must pass the NV State Clinical Board or Western Regional Board Examination (WREB) in order to practice dental hygiene in Nevada. The Nevada Dental Practice Act (NRS631.290) requires that candidates for licensure be of good moral character and be citizens of the US or lawfully entitled to remain and work in the US. Prospective students are advised that if they have a felony or misdemeanor convictions or have a history of substance abuse or infectious disease that this my preclude subsequent licensure as a dental hygienist in Nevada (NAC 631.050)

Program Requirements

Course Prefix	Course Title	Num. of Credits
DH 102	Oral Biology	4
DH 103	Head & Neck Anatomy	2
DH 104	Dental Hygiene I	3
DH 105	Intro to Clinical Practice	2
DH 107	Legal & Ethical Implications in Dental Hygiene	1
DH 110	Concepts of Oral Health	2
DH 112	Oral Radiology	3
DH 113	General & Oral Pathology	3
DH 115	Clinical Practice I	3
DH 117	Periodontics	2
DH 120	Fundamentals of Nutrition In Dentistry	3
DH 202	Pharmacology	2
DH 203	Special Patients	2
DH 205	Clinical Practice II	5
DH 207	Periodontics II	2
DH 208	Community Dental Health	2
DH 209	Pain & Anxiety Control	3
DH 211	Dental Materials & Techniques for Dental Hygienists	2
DH 215	Clinical Practice III	5
DH 216	Principles of Dental Practice	1
DH 217	Periodontics III	1
DH 218	Community Dental Health	2
		55 Credits in Dental Hygiene
DH 299	Skills Lab	1 credit pass/fail required each semester

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